Method of sealing folded blank boxes



Jan. 16, 1940. J. A. FARMER METHOD OF SEALING FOLDED BLANK BOXES Filed June 7, 1958 s 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I gummy 442% QWZMIQM I Jan-16,1940. v J. A. FARMER I 2,137,305

' IETKOD OF SEALIfiG FOLDED BLANK BOXES Filed June 7, 193a 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UNITEDSQTATES PATENTIOFFICE METHOD OF SEALING FOLDED BLANK l BOXES Q W John A.,FarincrpLancastel-jla assignor to A. H. X Hoffman, Inc.) Landisville, Pa., a corporation 01' Pennsylvania .1 n licationfju e 7, 1938, Serial No. 212,357 v v comma; (01. 229-45) I Thisinv'ention relates to folded blank boxes, Referring to the drawings in detail, the four and more particularly ,to boxesmade of relativeside panels of the box are designated a, b, c and ly iheavy fibrous material such as corrugated cLwhile the pair of inner flaps at the upper end board or fiber board, and commonlyl'known' as of the box are designated e and g, and the over-, 5 shipping cases. l l w y i lying pair of outer flaps are designated hand f. 5 The present application is a continuation in It has long been the common practice, infclospart of my prior copending application Serial ng bO S 0 pp as s of e yp Q MNQQ 170,693, filed October 23, 1937; I 1 tion, to first fold in the inner flaps, then cover Boxesor containers of the above character are them with a coating of adhesivesuch as silicate 1 Jmfusually formed from a single blank of sheet ma- 1 of soda, and thenpress the outer flaps downu'pon 1o In order that the invention Imaybe readily press the outer flaps fir y against them. The

, orcontjainer showingin dotted lines oneform of deringpro-per sealing impossible. l

te'rial' provided with ljthe necessary 1 cuts 2 and this adhesive, so as to securelyhold the flaps creases-or weakened fold linesdividing the blank together. With this method, it is apparent that intofour side panels and a pair offinner anda a small hole or opening would be left at the interpairiofouter-flaps ateachj'end. section of the cracksbetween the two pairs of ieQ 'Mymrior above mentioned application is diflaps. 1 l 1 rected'to improyedineans forformingthe'corners 1 OM61 to S this Op n d referring firstv ,of suchboxes so as to completely closethern and to Figs 1 0 3, I employ a sealing Strip of tough, prevent the sifting out", of fine material. The flexibl ma ri l, ch as K t p p A r present application is directedto means fors ealbringing the inner flaps, such as e and 9, down ing the longitudinal cracks or spaces between the into position, I apply such a sealing strip, I I by pairs of end flaps, and for facilitating the nemeans of adhesive along the crack between the, inenting of the outer flaps "securely upon the meeting edges of these flaps. I then coat the inner flapsfl l 1 l 1 a l outer surfacecf the inner flaps and sealing strip; An object'of the presentinvention is to prowith adhesive, as indicatedby the heavy line in vi'de means for supporting the inner flaps "so that l ig. 2, and press the outer flaps down upon the they may be coated with cement and the outer adhesive coatedsuriace. In this way, the sealing; flaps foldedover and pressed'downthereon'so as strip is interposed between the pairs of innerland, to adhere thereto, without danger of the inner outerflaps. This is done, of courseat both the l top and bottom oi; the box, as shownin the draw- 01 Anotherobje'ct is to providemeans for securely, ingsu l l j y sealingthe'crack between the flaps and also, the l When packing shipping cases of this character crack between e ach fiap and the adjacent side with looselgranulari orfluent material, it is dif- V war of the 'box, sof aa to prevent any possibility 1 ficult tosupport the inner top flaps with sufficient ofthe escapeof finely divided material. 1 fir'rnness to properly apply the sealingstripandw understood, reference isghad to the "accompanyl material, withfwhich the case iswfilled and on i Hing drawings forming partof this specification, which the inner flaps rest when folded, down, is and in whichz Q apt to yield, and permit theinner flaps to sink a Fig. lvisa'perspective' vievtr of a cornpleted box below the plane of the top of the box, thus renconstruction for carrying out, the aboveiobjectsg To remedy this: difficulty, I provide a. bridge j Rig. 2 is a transverse'section on the line 2- 2 piece or support l2, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3. of Fig lfilookin'g in the direction of the arrows; Thismay conveniently be formed of the same @Fie; 3i an r tin 0 1 he line 3+3 inaterialas the boxl blank and is preferably u- 45, of Eigl lyloolring inthe direction oi-f-the arrows'i shaped, comprising a 'horizontalgportion and a l l Figi i is perspective view ofa'slightly'difierent pair of substantially parallel legs I2 These legs construction; the box being shown with the outer may be of such a1 length as to extend to and 3 aps in the position which they occupy-before rest upon thefbottom of the box, or, in some being folded-"down; cases, shorter legs will sufiice. y

L 56 9 1a e ne ry view how ing In using this device, I proceed asfollows. The

l theuse 'o f j-an'additional sealing strip; and box is filled with fluent material and the bridge 6 is, a fragmentarytransverse"sectionon piece I2 is then inserted by pressing'thje same an enlarged scale; through thetop of thelbox down mm the materialfthe legs 12 becoming shown injFig. 5, after the outer fiapslhavebeen embedded inthe material andin some cases ex- 5 foldeddown andcernenteda l v tendingwto the bottom of the box. In any event,

the bridge piece is pressed down until its upper surface, which is'positioned adjacent the center of the box, is substantially flush with the top edges of the box. As shown, the bridge piece l2 extends longitudinally of the meeting edges of the inner flaps. 1

After the bridge piece 52 has been placed in position, it is coated with adhesive and the inner flaps then folded in and pressed down upon it. Then the sealing strip is applied, the Whole coated with adhesive and the outer flaps pressed down,

as above described, the bridge piece sustaining the inner flaps and holding them in substantially horizontal position while the outer flaps are pressed down in'close contact with them. After the adhesive has set. the bridge piece is firmly united to the inner flaps and forms a further reinforcement.

Owing to the completeand effective manner in which my improved shipping case is sealed, it is about which the triangular section may be folded back so as to provide an opening. Preferably the sides of the triangular opening thus formed are substantially parallel with the side and top edges of the box and are as close as practicable to the corner.

In order to call the purchaser's attention to this dispensing opening and to aid him in properly manipulating the same, I preferably enclose 1 ;the above mentioned triangular section within an outline l5 representing the head of an arrow,

' the shaft E6 of the arrow extending diagonally across the panel and having printed thereon instructions or directions for opening the box.

" This dispensing feature is not claimed herein but is reserved to form the subject matter of a separate application.

Referring now to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, I have shown a slightly different construction. The sealing strip, corresponding to the strip H in the other figures. is illustrated at H. in Fig. 4, but this strip is made'longe'r so that the. end portions H thereof are turned up as shown and may be pressed into contact with and secured to the inner faces of the upstanding outer flaps and h. By carefully applying this strip ll, with its ends H as shownand described, the inner flaps e "and g are supported and firmly anchored to [the upstanding outer fiaps,'and are thus prevented from sagging inwardly. I 1 In such boxes as usually constructed, there exists a small'crack or opening ll between the sides of the inner flaps eand g and the adjacent side panels. ,In' order to efiectively close this crack orepening, I employ a second sealing strip i8, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, this strip extending longitudinally of the crack I! and being secured partly tothe inner face of the outer flap h and partly to the upper face of the inner flaps e and 9 extending transversely across the same. The

strip l3 overlies the strip H and its turned up end H as shown in Fig. 5.

After having placed, the strips H and I8 on the box, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the entire upper surfaceof the inner flaps, and of the strips H and I8 is coated with a suitable adhesive such as sodium silicate and the outer flaps then pressed down thereon, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The inner flaps e and 9, being supported by the strip H, are prevented from sagging inwardly and the outer flaps J and k can thus be pressed into firm contact therewith. Fig. 6 shows the final position of the parts, with the strip l8 folded over upon itself. In this figure, the cement is indicated at 19.

It will be understood that the improved form of strip H constitutes a means for supporting the inner flaps and may be used either in conjunction with or without the bridge I2 illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3. Similarly, of course, the sealing strips l8 may be and preferably are employed whether or not the bridge 12 is used. Thus the construction shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 constitutes what may be regarded as additions to the features shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and may be used either with or without such features.

Although in the drawings I have, for the sake of simplicity, shown only a conventional box, and have not attempted to illustrate my improved corner construction, it will, of course, be understood that the box shown in these figures is intended to embody one of the improved corner constructions described in my above identified prior application.

What I claim is:

1. In a folded blank box having an end closed by pairs of overlapping inner and outer flaps, each pair having parallel meeting edges, the outer .flaps being folded over upon and cemented to the'inner flaps, means extending longitudinally of the meeting edges of said inner flaps for supporting the same so that they will be substantially prevented from sagging inwardly.

2. In a folded blank box having an end closed by pairs of overlapping inner and outer flaps, the latter being folded over upon and cemented to the former, means for supporting said inner flaps so that they will be substantially prevented inverted U-shapedbridge piece positioned beh neath andsecured to the inner surface of said inner flaps.

4. In sealing the ends of folded blank boxes formed by pairs of overlapping inner and outer flaps, the free adjacent edges of the flaps of each pair lyingfin the same plane, and the outer flaps being folded down upon and cemented to the inner ilaps, the step which comprises providing means extending along the adjacent edges of the inner flaps for supporting the same so that they will be substantially prevented from sagging when the outer flaps are pressed down into contact therewith.

5. The method of sealing the ends of folded blank boxes formed by pairs of overlapping inner and outer flaps, which comprises applying a sealing strip longitudinally over the meeting edges ofthe, outside of the pair of inner flaps, coating the surface of said flaps, including said strip, with adhesive, and then folding over and pressing n no ing strip over the meeting edgesof the outside of the pairof innerflaps; and attaching the ends of 10 is confined between and secured to both the inner and outer flaps.

and outer flaps, which comprises applying a sealsaid strip to the inner faces of the adjacent outer ing over and pressing'the outer flaps into close contact with such adhesive coated surface, where-;

by saidsealing strip is confined between andsecured to both the inner and outer flaps.

'7. The'm'ethod of sealingthe ends of folded blank boxes formed by pairs of overlapping inner and outer flaps; which cornprises applying a sealthe pair of inner flaps; applying a second sealing strip over the first along the crackbetween each side edge of the innerfiap's and the adjacent? sides of thebox, coating the surface of said inner flaps; including both strips; with adhesive, and

then floding over and pressing the outer flaps V v v 2,187,305 I the outer flaps into close contact with such ad-t hesive coated surface, whereby said sealing strip and outer flaps, which comprises applying a seal-,

3 into close contact with suchadhesive coated surface. i n n 8. The method of sealing the ends of folded blank boxes formed by'pairs of overlapping inner ing strip longitudinally alongthecrack between each side edgeof the inner-flaps and the adjacent sides oflthe box said strip engagingboth the inner flaps and the adjacent outer flap, coatv ing the surface of said inner flaps, including the flaps, coatingthe surface of said inner fiaps,\ln- 1 cludingsaid strip, with adhesive, and then foldportions of said strips in engagement therewith,

with adhesivegand then folding over the outer flaps, together withsaid strips, and pressing them l i face. i l

9. The method of sealing the upper end of a box having overlapping pairs of inner and outer flaps and filled with fluent material which comprises inserting in such materialthe legs of. an

. t. it uinver '-h ing strip overthe meeting edges o f the outside of ted U s aped budge plece m Such posmon as to support the edges'of the inner flaps, securing the inner surface of such flaps to the upper surface of said bridge piece by means of adhesive,

coating the outer surface of said inner flaps with adhesive, and pressing the outer flaps down upon 

